Burdened with high blood sugar? Eat your fiber. A New England Journal of Medicine study reports that people with type 2 diabetes who eat high-fiber diets can significantly lower their blood sugar and insulin levels-as much as 10 percent over those who have low-fiber diets. Other research shows that a diet high in refined carbohydrates more than doubles the chances of developing type 2 diabetes.

Good sources of fiber include: apples, grapes, cantaloupes, bananas, peaches, green beans, sweet potatoes, and many other fruits and vegetables.

Fiber recommendations for people under 50: women: 25 grams/day; men: 38 grams/day. Over 50? Women should aim for 21 grams/day, and men should include 30 grams/day. One cup of bran cereal provides 20 grams. A cup of garbanzo beans nets 16 grams. There are nine grams of fiber in both a single large apple and one stalk of cooked broccoli. Meat contains zero fiber.